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Shit. The damn woman had shown up armed with fried chicken and chocolate chip cookies, cleaned a few rooms, revealed an old secret crush, and now…all he could think with was his cock.
Obviously, he was stressed to the limit and not thinking clearly. Or maybe it was the fact he was weary to the bone from too much work and not enough sleep. Or perhaps it had everything to do with him being fucking sick and tired of jerking himself off in the shower whenever the loneliness grew unbearable.
Then he realized he didn’t want to talk to her at all. Even now, he was struggling not to draw her into his arms and give her a long, deep, open-mouthed kiss.
Hell, he was fighting like the devil not to drag her to his bedroom.
That realization washed over him like ice-cold water. This was Yvonne, not some stranger in a bar, not some woman on an online dating site.
Not that he’d hooked up with anyone in either way lately. He hadn’t been with a woman in a very long time. Not since before Denise’s death. Three years of celibacy.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with a woman. It was more a combination of a lack of opportunity and the unshakable fact that he was now mother and father to his son. Taking a chance on dating a woman who might not love his son as much as he did had become a barrier in his mind, something he was struggling to overcome.
He wasn’t sure what Yvonne saw in his face, but he’d never been particularly good at hiding anything from her.
She rose up on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. It took everything he had not to turn his head, changing the kiss from platonic and friendly to something full of a lot more lust. His dick twitched, and there was no way he was going to keep this erection at bay.
Until she said, “You do need my wisdom. So here’s my first secret to a happy life, Leo. Don’t overthink everything. Sometimes you can do something just because you want to, even if it doesn’t make sense or feel practical.”
Unfortunately, before he had time to let that secret sink in, she’d started down the hall toward the boys’ bedroom. She turned at the doorway and gave him a sexy smile that nearly brought him to his knees. “And for future reference, I’m a hell of a kisser.”
He barked out a laugh of surprise as she entered the kids’ bedroom.
While she watched SpongeBob with the boys, he tried to distract himself from the need to drag her to his bedroom to see if she was telling the truth by tackling some of the chores. With her entertaining the kids, he didn’t have to break up fights or keep Vince—who was eating them out of house and home—from hitting the kitchen for snacks he didn’t need.
He’d just switched the first load of laundry to the dryer and refilled the washer when she left the boys’ bedroom.
“Are they asleep?”
She shook her head. “Not quite, but I suspect it won’t be long.” She pointed to the laundry. “Sure you don’t want help with that?”
“No. I can’t ask you to do one more thing. You showed up just in the nick of time tonight. I swear I was about three minutes away from leaving all this behind, shaving my head and joining a monastery.”
She laughed. “Wow. I’m not sure you could pull off bald. You have a lumpy head.”
While he knew it was tempting fate to touch her again, he wrapped his arm around her neck, playfully messing up her hair. “Is that right? You really don’t think too much of me, do you, Miss Collins?”
She tried to fight him off, giggling. He intended to make her work for her freedom, but her hip brushed his reemerging erection. He’d managed to will it away while he did the laundry, but it reared its head again the moment he saw her.
That was…problematic.
He released her quickly, not wanting her to see her effect on him tonight.
He’d take care of business later in the shower, and the next time he saw her, things would be back to normal, their friendship firmly intact, and this sudden, unfamiliar, overwhelming desire gone.
Hopefully.
“Want a glass of wine?” he asked, turning away from her to head to the kitchen.
“That would be great.”
He pulled a bottle of white from the refrigerator and filled two glasses. Then the two of them walked to the living room and sat on the couch, Boomer curling up on the floor at their feet.
“Seriously, Vonnie. I can’t thank you enough for dinner and helping me with the dishes and cleaning up all those rooms.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said. “Tonight was just the beginning. I have a lot more secrets to impart.”
Leo chuckled. “I don’t need your secrets to being happy. I’m doing just fine.”
